“Food Vision” Prize Partners with Local Quechee Business and Supports Local Growers

Vital Communities, the non-profit organization working to cultivate the civic, environmental, and economic vitality of the Upper Valley and engage Upper Valley people, organizations, and communities to create equitable solutions to our region’s challenges, was recently awarded a $200,000 New England Food Vision Prize for a multi-partner project.

This prize will enable the development of a regional farm ingredient-sourcing supply channel that will help create broader markets for the region’s food growers, especially farmers from the BIPOC and immigrant communities.

The central partner in this project is our own Quechee-based Global Village Foods, an African-inspired prepared food producer.… Read More

According to local historians, and probably not surprisingly, the identity of Quechee has been closely linked to the 41.4-mile long Ottauquechee River that winds through the small hamlet of just over 600 residents and has carved out of the landscape changes in topography as a tributary of the Connecticut River that flows to the Long Island Sound.

Although the course of the river has directed the intentional placement of residential, industrial and commercial buildings, the backbone of the district is Quechee Main Street that extends in an east-west direction, parallel and to the north of the Ottauquechee River.

In total, the district is comprised of 73 properties.… Read More

Strolling around the woods, contemplating my life as older people are inclined to do, hoping not to get lost in my own backyard, I asked myself, “Self, what talent would you have liked to have had which you are lacking?” It soon began to grow dark as the list grew longer and longer. I made my way home before Kim called the police but, you know something, I believe that the talent I lack most in my make-up is the ability to competently play a musical instrument. I’d also like to be much better at math, but music intrigues me more because I still naively think I have a chance at it: like golf.… Read More

Nordic adventures — on snowshoes or cross country skis — are a wonderful, invigorating way to explore and fully appreciate the great outdoors during winter in Quechee.

In the words of one smiling skier, “It is so picturesque with the water flowing and only the sounds of nature can be heard. The setting is spectacular: the connection to nature, the quality of trails, the experience of fueling your soul and heart with great Vermont fresh air.”

The Quechee Club manages miles of trails on the dormant golf course, groomed for both skate and classic skiing; a couple of trails meander along the shores of Lake Pinneo.… Read More

There is a new gem hidden in the surrounding hills and hollows of the Upper Valley. The Grange Theatre in Pomfret, Vermont, formerly the Teago Grange Hall, is the newest branch of the ArtisTree Community Arts Center. The theatre’s first season wrapped up in late October. Maybe you were lucky enough to see The Little Mermaid or get a seat for the sold-out Patsy Cline. If you’ve been to a show already, you were probably impressed before it even started. The old grange still looks like a well-maintained meeting hall where over the years countless couples married and community dinners were served.… Read More

If Brad Pirkey isn’t a familiar face or name to you around the Hartford/Quechee area, maybe you recognize his brightly colored food bus. Chef Brad’s CrazySide has been around the area since 2012, and it’s hard to miss. Most recently you’ve probably noticed the colorful addition to Fat Hat Corner where Quechee Main Street meets Route 4. Chef Brad’s bus has moved into the corner, and it sounds like the CrazySide may have found a home.

Pirkey grew up in the Woodstock and Killington, Vermont, areas graduating from Woodstock High in 1980 where he claims his only ‘A’ was for a quiche cooked up for French class.… Read More

The Dismas House is a non-profit organization that was first brought to Vermont in the 1980s by Frank and Rita McCaffrey. The original Dismas House began in 1974 in Nashville, Tennessee, as a program developed by Father Jack Hickey and a group of Vanderbilt University students. The Dismas name comes from Hickey’s original inspiration–Catholic tradition Dismas is the name of the penitent, or good thief, crucified on Calvary alongside Jesus. Dismas, is the thief that Jesus saves. The Dismas House reunites criminal offenders with the community, and it has been so successful that the original program model can be found in various forms nationally and internationally.… Read More

Don’t forget to get your tickets to see Dark Star Orchestra to benefit the Rusty Berrings Skatepark in memory of Tyler Kirschner.

Dark Star Orchestra recreates set lists from some of the most legendary Grateful Dead shows in the Dead’s 30 years of touring. If you’ve ever wondered why the fans were/are so loyal to what the Dead was offering, you now have a chance to experience what it was like to be in an intimate venue, with a couple thousand of your now closest friends (because that’s what seems to happen), and just let the music carry the evening. When the seven members of DSO play, they remind us that the music never stopped and it definitely isn’t stopping any time soon.… Read More

Between the months of May and September, the Queche Base Lodge is a hive of activity. Golfers come and go picking up goodies and refreshments for the Highlands back nine. In the front hallway they walk past a shuttered opening on top of a high desk and if they’ve enjoyed a Vermont winter they wouldn’t know that the opening is heart and soul of Quechee Club as soon as the snow falls. Of course, I’m talking about the ski school and once again, returning for the 33rd straight year, Ken Kramberg will be at the helm.

Kramberg’s story is not that of a typical Vermont ski school dynasty and in a way that makes it more special.… Read More

Book clubs date back to the 1800s—and likely long before that recorded date. They can be found in local bookstores, at libraries, even online, but most often in homes where a group of friends gather to share a good book, interesting conversation and friendship. In 2001, that’s how a group of Quechee residents started theirs. Ann Heimarck, Alice Goldstein and Rosemarie Scibetta wanted to start a book group and discovered that four other women—Karen Tahmousch, Vaughn Glanville, Roberta Epstein and Maywood Giordano—also were thinking of starting one. They came together and since that time they have added members, lost members to moves, including in the past six months Sharon Corrigan, Peggy Jones and Arlyne Berke and original member, Maywood Giordano, who passed away in June.… Read More